Celebrities

Ever had one of those moments where you realize the only way forward is to build something better yourself? That’s the heart of Swiped, the upcoming Hulu film that follows Whitney Wolfe Herd’s journey from co-founding Tinder to creating Bumble, an app that flipped the online dating script by putting women in control.

In the film, Lily James steps into the role of Whitney, a recent college grad stepping into the high-energy, male-dominated tech world. At first, she’s part of the Tinder team—only to find herself navigating toxic workplace politics and misogyny that no one should have to endure. When those walls close in, Whitney doesn’t just walk away. She reimagines what a dating app could be and launches Bumble, building not just a company but a safer, more empowering space for women. The twist? That bold move eventually makes her the youngest female self-made billionaire.

Hinge has teamed up with renowned psychotherapist and relationship expert Esther Perel to create new prompts for users to engage in conversation.

Perel was involved in creating new “Your World” prompts, including a collection of ten questions designed to help Hinge users share more about themselves in their profiles and hopefully attract better matches.

“[The prompts] are intended to help someone reading them have a bit more imagination about how your world and their world might connect,” Jackie Jantos, Hinge’s president and chief marketing officer, told Fast Company. “Esther contributed what she knows about getting into deeper, more intimate conversation.”

Hailey Welch, the “Hawk Tuah” girl who rose to fame from a viral video moment has now launched a new dating app dubbed Pookie Tools.

Pookie Tools is AI-based and acts like a virtual wingman, offering everything from conversation prompts to outfit recommendations to profile enhancement tips.

The app targets the Gen Z market with some of Welch’s “cheat codes,” as the description in the app store reads. The cheat codes include a “Conversation Assistant” and “Text Responder” that offer personalized prompts to keep conversations going and an “Astrological Insights” feature that helps determine a match’s compatibility based on zodiac signs.

Image: Tinder

Tinder has released new features and added perks in time for college students headed back to campus. The move signals the company’s continued priority to market to younger Gen Z singles.

One interesting perk is that Tinder will offer college students a 50% discount for any of its premium services of Plus, Gold, and Platinum, according to Tech Crunch. This comes after the dating app company has struggled to retain paying users, reporting a loss of 400,000 paying users in the last quarter.

Tinder also announced a series of updates to Tinder U, its in-app feature for college students to find others on their campuses to connect with. One new feature for Tinder U includes new badges to add to their profiles, such as graduation year, major, clubs they are a part of, and their fraternity/ sorority life.

Tinder, Bumble and Hinge have seen surges in downloads and user activity around the Athlete’s Village in Paris as the 2024 Summer Olympics get underway.

According to The Daily Mail, these dating apps have reported thousands of new downloads. Athletes have gravitated to dating apps in the past to hook up during the Olympics, with the exception of an intimacy ban in 2020 due to Covid concerns.

Paris officials have  a different agenda from athletes, providing single beds made of cardboard so that they would be discouraged from having so much sex during the competitions. This has created a lot of buzz on TikTok, with athletes testing out the sturdiness of the beds by jumping on them. (They don’t break or fall apart.)

Actress Lily James will reportedly star in a film inspired by the life of Whitney Wolfe Herd, the legendary founder of dating app Bumble.

According to Deadline who broke the story, the film won’t be strictly based on Herd’s life, but the former CEO’s struggles and triumphs are meant to inspire the script. James will produce the film alongside 20th Century Studios and Ethea Entertainment, the production company formed by Jennifer Gibgot and Andrew Panay, according to Deadline. They are currently in pre-production for the untitled film, which is expected to be released in 2025.

Wolfe Herd got her start in the dating app business as a co-founder of Tinder, and then famously left the app in 2014 amid allegations that she was sexually harassed by her former boyfriend and Tinder co-founder. She went on to found Bumble that same year, and made it her mission to give women power on the platform, ensuring that they are the ones who can reach out first to a match.